His numbers are a bit low. The average for California is $79k. It'll vary a lot from school district to school district because a lot of the funding comes from local property taxes. There's 7 school districts in the SF Bay Area where teachers average more than $100k. There's also 15 rural school districts that average $40k.

You have a limited life span, so you have to pay off your debt within X number of years (i.e. 30 year loans). A government lasts forever (or at lest a very long time), so there's no inherent reason they need to pay off their debt, especially is the economy (and in theory, tax revenue) is growing faster than the debt. It's why government debt is more similar to corporation debt than household debt. Governments and massive corporations like Apple can borrow more cheaply and have more things to invest in than your average American.

Generally speaking your kids do not inherit your debt. Your assets would be sold to cover your debts, and your kids inherit whatever is left. The main exception is medical debt and the laws for this vary state by state. If state law mandates adult children take responsibility for supporting their parents, then the children would also be on the hook for the medical bills even after their parent's death.

Exactly! I tell people all the time that they just want to buy cheap store-brand diphenhydramine but you wouldn't believe how many people insist on getting the ones in the purple packaging that say "for sleep" instead of the pink "for allergies" packaging. PEOPLE IT'S THE SAME ACTIVE INGREDIENT. Diphenhydramine is diphenhydramine.

I wish that they'd go back to forbidding direct-to-consumer advertising (and doctor detailing is a problem too...too many doctors hand out the manufacturer cards without realizing there are restrictions on them, or prescribe a shiny new drug because the rep told them about it without telling them how much it costs. I'm watching the Olympics now and just saw an ad for a new eczema ointment. I've seen doctors attempt to prescribe it 3 times now, have not yet seen an insurance cover it or a doctor agree to attempt prior authorization for approval, and it's upwards of $700 for a small tube. There is a manufacturer coupon card, but it has a max benefit per fill of $580 and $2400/year max, so if your insurance doesn't cover it, you're still going to pay over $120 for that tube and be limited to 3-4 tubes/year. I have no idea how well it works for patients because I have yet to see a patient who can afford it.) That bring up the other issue, that of absolutely crazy drug prices for brand names and rising drug prices...I don't have any easy solutions, but I wish I did.

It's probably very hard (i.e. Google search level hard), but a startup could create a search engine for drugs, specifically the chemicals. i.e. give me the list of drugs that can treat psoriasis on the hand, and it'll give you the list of drugs along with their average cost, side effects, brand names the drug is released under, and links to any studies done. Relying on a human being to keep up with every single advancement in drugs and treatment options for every single ailment is a bit unreasonable.

Even going by per 100k population its the 13th most, according to wiki article that uses homicide data from the FBI and population data from the census. According to the wiki article I'm using, Alaska and Alabama have a lower gun homicide rate per 100k than California too.

What article are you looking at? I got off my lazy arse and looked for myself. According to the Wikipedia page for Firearm death rates in the United States by state, California has the 9th lowest gun deaths per capita at 7.89 per 100k compared to the national average at 10.64 per 100k. Are you referring to the gun homicide rate?

There is also the don't trust the government to do it right or even be able to do it for our population size. Look at the VA and their free healthcare and it takes forever to even get in. Itty is usually a joke and now to put it on the United States I have a feeling it would probably end up crashing and burning.

People my age already think social security won't be there when we hit retirement because government can manage better I don't think I really want to trust them with more of my money so they can screw up the healthcare system that is already in bad shape.

Actually what the heck does the US do now? We dont really explore space anymore and most our jobs and tech are overseas now? Doea better cgi for movies count as innovation cause Hollywood still does alright.

I find people with real money when they do buy something high end it will have at most a small logo on the clasp or something. My sister is upper middle class, low upper class (doctor married to a doctor) and into purses but even she thinks having coach symbols everywhere or a pattern that is just LVs is gauche.

yea for some reason all my factions are -50+ hostile to me so orion has sent me a few goodie packages i mean raids. All their pawns have exo spine that make em run super fast too so theyre pretty good to capture. About the guns though, ive already got like 7 pawns with OC pistols and 1 with a rifle and i stack em up on a corridor and theyre absolutely unbeatable. just a devastating meatgrinder for whatever comes through my entrance.

You still have another 35k (about 3k a month). You don't need a car for the most part in the city. If you're making 120k, your job usually provides health insurance. Your work also likely provides lunch and dinner (and probably booze) if you're in tech. You're living pretty comfortably by yourself in the city at 120k a year. 45k a year also gets you one of those luxury one bedroom apartments, so it's not like you're slumming it housing wise either.